The risk of malnutrition is high during innumerable circumstances of life. For example, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,950, metabolically stressed patients suffering from impairment of either digestion or absorption due to diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract are prone to malnutrition. Examples of such disease are functional dyspepsia, various forms of gastritis, peptic ulcers, colitis ulcerosa, neoplasms of the stomach, pancreatitis, diarrhoea, constipation, Crohn's disease, IBS, post-operative condition after gastro-intestinal surgery, just to mention a few.
Malnutrition or gastro-intestinal disorders, more generally gut-discomfort or pain may simply be the consequence of unhealthy or unbalanced nutritional behaviour. Especially, fast food is very often rich in cholesterol, has generally an unbalanced nutritional profile and can therefore lead to malnutrition.
EP 0 721 742, for example, points out the occurrence of malnutrition with elderly people or patients and discloses a nutritional composition addressing this situation.
On the other hand, trauma or surgery patients may be in need of a high calorie and nutrient nutritional products, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,668.
However, malnutrition may also affect perfectly healthy people, be it due to increased energy expenditure, as is the case with athletes or other sportsmen following intensive physical exercise, be it in other circumstances, such as pregnancy, for example.
The occurrence of malnutrition in various situations during life, in particular with elderly or ill people has thus led mainly to high calorie and high nutrient compositions. The concept was to provide a maximum of energy and essential nutrients in a minimal volume to be consumed.
However, consumption of compositions of the state of the art was often problematic, especially in patients with unbalanced gut flora and with gut impairment. These compositions can cause gut pain or gut discomfort and are not always well supported.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nutritional composition, which has a high energy content and which improves the digestive tract health.
It is a further object to provide a nutritional composition, for example in the form of a nutritional supplement, which improves and maintains a well-balanced gut flora and which improves intestinal transit.
It is, in particular, an object of the invention to provide a nutritional composition to regulate gut motility and/or to improve intestinal transit, also suitable for persons suffering from diarrhoea or constipation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nutritional composition, which has an increased fibre content, more particularly, which comprises an optimised mixture of different classes of fibre.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a nutritional supplement with high fibre and high energy content and which may further comprise other essential nutrients.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a product that has a specific range of fibre density, which gives excellent gut-benefits, such as well-being, gut-comfort, prevents constipation and diarrhoea and results in soft stool.
It is a further object to provide a liquid product with a good taste, and a product that is shelf stable.